Computer mice are silent killers. For years I struggled with wrist pain, elbow pain, and shoulder pain, and I staved it off with stretches, exercises, ergonomic changes, and what have you—but it always kept coming back. Turns out, it was because of my mouse. About a year ago, I was at my wit’s end, scrambling for web advice on why I’m hurting and what I could do about it. Reddit users talked about how switching to a trackball mouse made all the difference for them, and I was intrigued. Hopeful, even. Sure, I was reluctant because I didn’t want to waste my money or relearn how to work a mouse, but the pain was bad enough that I sucked it up and took a chance. Joel Lee / Foundry So, I spent $38 on a ProtoArc EM03, telling myself I could just return it if I didn’t like it. (The EM03 has since been discontinued, but the Nulea M505 is similar in design and price.) And you know what? I hated it for the first week or so. It was foreign, cumbersome, and weird. It had a learning curve, and it was frustrating, to say the least. Then something magical happened: around the fourth week, I found myself zipping through my usual work without fumbling or struggling, without any of my usual pain. Wrist, elbow, shoulder—all gone. And using the trackball mouse? Second nature. I was having a good time with it, and I dare say I now prefer it to traditional mice. Buy trackball mouse on Amazon I should note that my mouse is a finger trackball, not a thumb trackball. I’ve tried the thumb variant before, and I find it less precise and more prone to hand fatigue and repetitive strain. Being able to control the trackball with both index and middle fingers makes for a more pleasant experience with minimal wear on a single digit. I love that there’s close to zero body movement when using a trackball mouse, meaning I can place it wherever I want with no regard for space or need of a mouse pad. I can put it on top of my desktop tower, under my monitor, or down on my lap, and it’s heavy enough to stay anchored while I’m using it. It doesn’t slide around. Other things I love about it? The ergonomic shape conforms to my hand. The mouse buttons are large, tactile, and quiet. The “Soft Touch” material is gentle and cooling. I can connect it to three devices, two via Bluetooth pairings and one via wireless dongle. It lasts about 3 to 4 months on a full charge, and it recharges in an hour or so. Joel Lee / Foundry As far as I can tell, there are only three downsides to using a trackball mouse. First, they aren’t suitable for games with lots of mouse movement. Traditional mice still excel for FPSes and the like, so maybe keep a backup mouse just for gaming. Second, the socket that holds the trackball gets gunked up over time (like older mice used to do back before optical and laser tech) and needs occasional cleaning. Third, finding a left-handed version might be tougher than with traditional mice. I can put up with all of that. As far as I’m concerned, the benefits outweigh the inconveniences, and the buy-in cost was absolutely worth it. The day my trackball mouse dies, you can bet I’m ordering a replacement right then and there—most likely the Nulea M505, but maybe the Kensington Expert if I want to try something more unusual. Buy trackball mouse on Amazon Read...

Some laptops are built for leisure, others are built for gaming. And then you have laptops like the HP ProBook 460 G11 that are built for work. It’s fast, it’s capable, and it’s $400 off at B&H right now. Its original $1,299 price has been knocked down to just $899—an absolute steal when you consider the specs and performance packed into it. The ProBook 460 G11 is purpose-built to tackle your entire to-do list, whether that includes sending out emails, planning complex work tasks, procrastinating on social media, bingeing your guilty pleasure reality TV shows on break, while juggling dozens of open apps and browser tabs. With its speedy Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor, it’ll deftly handle whatever you throw at it while still managing 12+ hours of battery life on its modestly sized 56-watt-hour battery. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM is pretty standard. It’s about as low as we’d recommend for any modern laptop running Windows 11, and this machine comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed. The 512GB M.2 SSD leaves something to be desired, but it’s plenty large as long as you aren’t downloading tons of high-res video, and it’s hard to ask for more at this price. If you really need more storage, add a fast external drive or two via the two USB-C and/or two USB-A ports. The 16-inch 1920p screen is work-optimized, so you probably don’t want to game on it. As for display connectivity, this laptop includes a full-sized HDMI port, and the aforementioned USB-C ports support video output. That means it can support triple displays for maximum productivity. While it lacks SD/microSD slots, you do get a LAN port and 3.5mm audio jack. And with its 0.43-inch thickness and 3.85-pound weight, it’s portable enough to take with you wherever you do your work best. Take advantage of this $400 discount at B&H and get your own HP ProBook 460 G11 for $899 while this sale is still going on! Save $400 on HP`s productivity-focused work laptopBuy now from B&H Read...

Hyland appoints Michael Campbell as Chief Product Officer to lead cloud, AI, and content management innovations, leveraging his 20+ years in enterprise software. Read...

When you hear “computer,” you think of either a laptop or desktop PC, but that doesn’t have to be true anymore. These days, you can get the same powerful setup in “mini” form, and it’ll cost you quite a bit less than you’d pay for a comparably specced laptop or desktop. The Beelink SER5 mini PC is only $277.70 on Amazon right now, a lovely 23% discount on its original $359 MSRP. That’s a more-than-affordable price for a decently powerful device that’s great for daily work, fun, streaming, and even some light gaming. I know what you’re thinking. “This thing is tiny and cheap. How could it possibly perform well?” But Beelink’s SER5 runs on a pretty speedy AMD Ryzen 7 5825U Pro processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 500GB SSD. That’s more than enough to run Windows 11 without issue (Home edition comes pre-installed), but if you ever need even more power, you can later upgrade up to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of SSD storage. It also comes with dual 4K@60Hz support via full-sized HDMI and DisplayPort connections powered by integrated Radeon graphics, alongside three fast USB-A, a USB-C, a 2.5Gbps LAN, and a 3.5mm audio jack. And it truly is compact, able to fit under your monitor and take up almost no space on your desk. Use the included mounting bracket to attach it to the backside of a monitor even! Get your own Beelink SER5 mini PC for $277.70 on Amazon while this deal still stands. It’s close to the best price we’ve seen for it! Get a Ryzen 7 mini PC with 16GB RAM for $278Buy now at Amazon Read...

Last year, several dangerous security vulnerabilities were found in the popular 7zip compression tool that were closed with new versions. However, these patches had to be downloaded and installed manually in Windows. Even almost a year later, 7zip is probably still running in outdated and malware-prone versions on many PCs. This would not have happened with a so-called package manager, which installs new program versions automatically and without intervention. In other words, just as has long been the case with smartphones, Linux, and Macs. The same applies under Windows for apps from the Microsoft Store, provided the “App updates” option is activated in the Store settings. However, programs installed in the usual way are not updated automatically. See also: How to make Windows 11 look like Windows 10 While package managers have long been standard on other systems, they have led a shadowy existence on Windows. Tools such as Iobit Software Updater, Patch my PC, Secunia Personal Update Inspector, SUMo (Software Update Monitor), or Updatestar have existed for some time, but each has its weak points or is severely limited in its functionality in the free version. When Microsoft launched its package manager for Windows, the tool could initially only be operated via the command line. This required considerable familiarization.Foundry First, however, we will explain Microsoft’s own package manager Winget, which is integrated in Windows 10 and 11 and which you actually have to control somewhat awkwardly via the command line. Uniget UI makes everything simple Operation became much easier with the graphical user interface called WingetUI, which stands for “Winget User Interface.” This tool suddenly made it possible to install new software conveniently with the mouse and without the usual “Next” confirmations and to automatically keep programs already running on the PC up to date. Because WingetUI is no longer limited to Winget, but also supports other console package managers, it has since been renamed Uniget UI. See also: New Outlook: How to use offline mode and save emails locally Installation: As Microsoft’s package manager, Winget itself is part of Windows 10 and 11, you only need to install the Uniget UI interface. During setup, make sure to install the tool for all user accounts in the first step. Depending on the settings, you may need to allow Uniget UI to make changes to the system in User Account Control (UAC). You can carry out the remaining steps with all the default settings. This includes, in particular, installing the additional package manager Chocolatey . Finally, click on “Finish” and Uniget UI will start automatically. Before we go into the functions in more detail, you should activate the option “Ask for administrator rights only once” under “Settings > Settings for administrator rights” at the bottom left. This will save you a lot of queries later on. If desired, you can also instruct Uniget UI to automatically install all available updates under “Update settings.” However, you should deactivate this option first, as this way you can always keep an eye on the updates and familiarize yourself with Uniget UI. The important functions of Uniget UI UniGetUI Uniget UI is configured during setup so that it starts automatically when the computer is switched on. You can recognize this by the new icon at the bottom right of the taskbar. A green dot in the icon indicates that new software updates are available. At the top left of the program interface, you will see four important areas. Use “Discover packages” to install new programs; you can read more about this in the “Installing new programs” box below. The “Software updates” are at the center of the following explanations. The third area “Installed packages” shows which programs are installed, similar to the Windows internal apps list in the Windows settings. See also: Annoyed by Windows PC notifications? Here’s how to turn them off However, Uniget UI sometimes lists significantly more entries here. This can be important because the tools can be removed from the system using the Uniget UI function “Uninstall selected packages.” Finally, “Package bundles” is also used to install software. However, instead of installing them individually, several programs can be combined into a “bundle,” saved, and installed later on another computer in one go. Installing new programs In addition to the automatic updates of installed programs, Uniget UI offers another clever function, the “Silent Install.” This term refers to the installation of software without prompting: Instead of clicking “OK” or “Next” several times during the setup process, Uniget UI installs the software autonomously. This is how it works: To install a program in this way, open Uniget UI, click on “Discover packages” in the top left-hand corner, type the name of the desired program in the search field on the right and confirm with the Enter key. After a short moment, the program you are looking for will appear. Select it and install it by clicking on “Install selected packages.” Depending on the software, it is offered in several versions, which differ in terms of language, version number, and more. Select the desired version from these. Two final notes: The possibility of combining several programs into a “package bundle” and saving them in order to install them in one go has already been mentioned in the article. Secondly: If you want to change the installation settings for a specific program, deactivate the silent install of Uniget UI using the “Install selection” button at the top center. The usual confirmations with their change options will then appear during setup. UniGetUI Everything up to date with a click of the mouse Checking the software on your computer for updates by hand is a thing of the past with Uniget UI. The tool does this automatically. As soon as the green dot or a Windows notification appears in the program icon in the taskbar, you open the tool interface. All available updates are already selected and marked; click on the “Install selected packages” button to update everything to the latest version. Uniget UI then downloads the updates and installs them; you can track the status or progress of each software below. The process may only be interrupted if the User Account Control (UAC) requires your authorization. It runs fully automatically and without any intervention if you move the UAC slider all the way down to “Never notify” and confirm this setting with “OK.” Depending on the scope and number of updates, downloading and installing takes time. Finally, the confirmation “Hooray! No updates were found.” If you want to temporarily exclude one or more program from updating, deactivate them in the list and only then start the update. If you want to defer one or more update completely, you can do this by clicking the “Ignore selected packages” button. You can run the deferred updates again at any time via “Manage ignored updates” to the right. Note: Do not be confused if sometimes only one and sometimes several appear under “Sources” when updating. A total of nine package managers or repositories are preset and active in Uniget UI; the tool automatically selects the appropriate source for each software. Conclusion The interface for Winget, Chocolatey, and others finally makes using package managers convenient under Windows. Instead of typing commands into the command line, with Uniget UI you can do everything with a click of the mouse. The tool installs and updates almost everything beyond commercial software and thus closes existing security gaps, fixes errors, or activates additional functions. Iobit Software Updater also points out outdated full versions such as Paintshop Pro (above) and offers an update. However, you may need a new licence. IDG By their very nature, package managers cannot install new versions of paid software, which is why they usually do not even display them. This is where the full version of Iobit Software Updater Pro can help: The software offers unlimited updates for more than 700 programs and even does this automatically at the user’s request. The tool compares the installed versions with a database and installs any missing updates automatically. Note: If you use two or more package managers, the results may differ in detail. Sometimes one of the tools shows a new software version that is still missing in the database of the other. Sometimes there are also different deployment cycles, for example standard and long-term versions (ESR). This is not a “fault” of the package manager, but is due to the version installed by the user. Comment: The last step is still missing The Windows update not only brings and keeps the operating system up to date, but also updates other Microsoft programs and increasingly even hardware drivers. At the same time, the Winget package manager, which is also integrated into Windows, offers the option of automatically updating the software installed on the PC. Now Microsoft just needs to put one and one together and merge the two previously separate processes into one function — this function was recently announced. When the Windows update then reports “You are up to date,” you would know that this is really the case. Read...

I don’t know how your tech drawers look, but mine are filled with wires I’ll likely never use again because technology has advanced quite a bit. Thankfully, USB-C seems to be here to stay since there is no wrong way to plug these things in. It’s not just smartphones, tablets, and laptops that use these, however, but also a long list of gadgets. We’ve scoured the market for hidden gems: gadgets that will make you think “Wow, I didn’t know I needed that, but it will make my life so much easier!” So, let’s dive in and see what cool devices you’ll be able to use your type-C cables and ports with. Wowstick 1F+ mini electric screwdriver Wowstick If you often have to fiddle around with your computer or other gadgets, this Wowstick mini electric screwdriver may be just what you need. This pen-shaped screwdriver features three LED lights so it’s easier to see what you’re working on and rotates 200 times per minute so you can finish the job faster. The screwdriver has a stylish base so you can hold it on your desk, and a whole collection of 56 aluminum alloy bits. The screwdriver can be charged via USB-C and it can last for hours. This super fun electric screwdriver usually goes for $41. Anker Nano Power Bank Anker One thing you need to have in you bag/pocket/backpack is a power bank because you never really know when your phone will fail you and cry for a recharge. Well, the Anker Nano power bank is tiny enough to fit just about anywhere. It comes with a foldable USB-C connector and a port on the side so you can charge two devices at once if you need to. The 5,000mAh capacity is just about enough for a full phone recharge, so it will be great in a pinch. It’s also only $30, but we’ve seen it as low as $16. Endoscope camera with light Ennovor Although it’s not something you’ll use every day, this Ennover endoscope camera can definitely come in handy. You just plug it in your phone, install and app, and see everything your camera does. Our team swears by it, using it for finding whatever they dropped behind the desk, while working on the car, or looking for pipe leaks. Since it has an IP67 rating, you can even plop it in your aquarium. The camera comes with a 16.4ft semi-rigid cable and several accessories, including a hook, magnet, and a mirror. You can get this one for $23 right now. Blukar flashlight Blukar I don’t care who you are—you need a flashlight. The smaller, the better, because you get to shove it into any pocket. This model from Blukar comes with a built-in 1800mAh battery that you’ll recharge with one of those many type-C cables you have in that tech drawer we were talking about. It can work for up to 16 hours on a single charge, which is pretty decent. There are four different lightning modes to cycle through, including one that will help you signal for help. Plus, one of these is only $10, so no excuse to pass on this one. Samsung flash drive Samsung The vast majority of flash drives have a USB-A connector, but this one from Samsung has a Type-C connector. With transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s, you’ll move files around in no time. The beauty of this thumb drive is that you can even pop it in your smartphone to record 4K vids directly on it. The Samsung Type-C flash drive comes in multiple storage options, starting at 64GB and up to 512GB and they start at $14. The 256GB version, for instance, is $27 at the time of writing. Read...

In terms of chips, Qualcomm didn’t really have anything to announce at Computex 2025. That will have to wait until the Snapdragon Summit, which takes place at the end of September. “Nobody expected Qualcomm, the cellular company, to have the leading performance on an SOC for a laptop in the PC space,” Cristiano Amon, chief executive of Qualcomm, in a keynote address at Computex. “We’re going to do that again, and it’s going to be even bigger.” “You’re going to see the next thing that we’ve been working on, the next chip for PC, and we’re going to provide another breakthrough in performance,” Amon added. “I promise you, you will be impressed.” Amon used his Computex presentation to laud the success of the Snapdragon platform, which has enjoyed stellar reviews, including from PCWorld, and won me over. Over 85 different PCs now feature members of the Snapdragon X platform, and Amon said over 100 should be in users’ hands by next year. To its credit, Qualcomm has moved quickly to shore up any holes in what it offers. App compatibility has been a concern, but Qualcomm seems to have mostly solved that problem. Growth in native apps have grown by three times, Amon said, and user time in native experiences has increased by 93 percent. Over 50 features take advantage of the Snapdragon’s NPU, which has forged close ties with Microsoft in rolling out new Windows features. Qualcomm hopes that the future of AI will flow through its Snapdragon chips.YouTube Qualcomm representatives have indicated that they are attacking Intel hard in retail and in the consumer space, placing kiosks in key retailers and launching a number of commercials. Qualcomm is pushing the fact that it delivers about the same performance running on battery and while plugged in, while the performance of Intel’s Core Ultra drops substantially while on battery. (Our own tests of Intel’s Core Ultra “Lunar Lake” chips bear that out.) Qualcomm has a weaker case to be made regarding games, but it’s addressing that issue, too. Amon reiterated that Fortnite is coming to Snapdragon PCs, along with Epic’s Easy Anti-Cheat. He also showed off a surprisingly smooth gameplay video of Kingdom Come II: Deliverance, though it was impossible to tell what graphics settings or resolution the game was being played back on. In all, Amon claimed that over 1,400 games are running on Snapdragon. Qualcomm’s Amon also spent considerable time talking about agentic AI, and about how a shift to that model would benefit the Snapdragon platform and its NPU. Microsoft has begun talking up the concept, sending out autonomous AIs, or agents, to pursue specific tasks without user control or direction. Finally, Amon pledged that Qualcomm and its Snapdragon platform have another trick up their sleeve: targeting the data center, and the premium revenues that commands. Read...

Intel committed to delivering its next-generation “Panther Lake” processor to PC makers early in 2026, maintaining the cadence of previous launches. Intel executives said at Computex 2025 that it will begin manufacturing Panther Lake during the second half of 2025. However, according to PCWorld’s Adam Patrick Murray, Intel executives said that Panther Lake will not be a socketed desktop part. Intel showed off Panther Lake running in what it calls validation platforms or prototype PCs, as well as examples of the chip itself. As for Intel’s next-generation “Nova Lake,” processor, due in 2026, we asked about that chip, as well. “You’ll see Nova Lake on time,” said Robert Hallock, Intel’s senior director of technical marketing. Intel validation systems from partners, running Intel’s Panther Lake.Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry Intel began talking about Panther Lake over a year ago, when Intel said that it was moving into the fab. Panther Lake prototypes appeared in October, and since then surfaced in every major Intel presentation including the debut of Intel’s newest chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan. At Computex, Intel demonstrated these early versions of Panther Lake running on Da Vinci Resolve, a video editing application, as well as an LLM using a front end modeled after Microsoft’s AI assistant, Clippy. Topaz AI, an image upscaling application, was also shown off running on the early Panther Lake hardware. Intel hasn’t released the Panther Lake specifications yet. Intel has also confirmed that it will be using a new, integrated GPU, though not which one. It sounds like Nova Lake will be Intel’s next desktop part, while Panther Lake will remain a mobile processor. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry Read...

His years as a BBC host end in circumstances nobody would have wanted, but some might have predicted. Read...

It has killed 25 people so far. Read...